Is Prayer Really Enough?

Is Prayer Really Enough? That question always raises eyebrows. Well here are some answers for you:

There are those circumstances where it is all we can do. If we have a family member who has an illness, all we can do is pray for their healing and God's will to be done. We are not doctors, and doctors sometimes cannot do it all. But, to digress for a minute, some old school believers say that if you go to a doctor, that means you don't have faith in God. Do you want my take on that? You're reading this so you must. God allowed and placed doctors here so he can heal us. The digression is over.

Now, on the flipside, there are many cases where prayer is not enough. James 2:20-24 teaches us that faith without works is dead. God does not want us to be lazy in what we do. I can remember many times in elementary and middle school when several friends and I would say "we need to pray that we will pass this test." Now looking back on it, did we study? If we didn't, we weren't going to pass, no matter how hard we prayed. Now I know this is a cheesy example, but it proves that if you must do your part in order for God to honor a request. In Matthew 16:-20, God told his eleven disciples to go make converts of the world. As followers of Christ, we must also take part in fulfilling the Great Commission. But praying the world will be saved won't do it. Yes, we need to pray for the lost, but we also need to show Christ's love. We need to share the good news. We may be the only Jesus they see. We could be the difference in a person spending eternity in Heaven or Hell.

So here is my challenge to you: As you pray, live your prayers out. Make sure that you do your part with your works, so God will honor it and help maximize the results!!

Prayer for those in Haiti

I can't express how much my heart goes out to Haiti. Thousands and Thousands of people have died, and they need help. I heard what a certain evangelist said, something to the extent of "The people of Haiti paying for a pact they made with the devil." Wow, what a wrong time to say this. God forgives, he loves, he provides.

What really eats at me is how so many "Christians" have the wrong attitude today. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT ABOUT CONDEMNING THE LOST TO HELL AND REJOICING IN THEIR SUFFERINGS, IT IS ABOUT EXTENDING CHRIST'S LOVE TO THE LOST AND WINNING THEIR SOULS FOR THE CAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST! How can we expect to help the church grow by shunning those? Church is not about being comfortable. We are here to reach out and continue the Great Commision that Christ put us on. He never said reaching the utter most parts of the world will be easy. It will definitley be challenging. But that's okay, at least it should be. God forbid that a drug addict walks into our church, or a goth does, or a punk, or a homeless person. Their clothes aren't right for church, they don't need to be here. The smell bad, they dont' need to be here. That, my friends, is the last thing we need to do. That is staying in a comfort zone.

But we need to extend Christ's love with open arms to everyone. Yes there have been dark things to go on in Haiti, witchcraft, voodoo, and what not. There is also a lot of that in the United States, but that is something that can be discussed in a different time. Regardless of the darkness there, I challenge you, us, the church, to be a beacon of Christ's light to a hurting people. Let's lift them up in prayer everyday, let's even fast on their behalf. Now, more than ever, they need God. They need a source of hope. Why not pray for and show them the everlasting hope? A hope that never goes away and never dies. A hope that is Jesus Christ. He is the only way, and we need to express that to everyone....